On June 20th, 1996, 16-year-old Rebecca Middleton arrived in Bermuda with her friend Jasmine Meens, ready for her “trip of a lifetime.”
On the night of July third, 1996, Becky, who had just celebrated her 17th birthday in Bermuda with Jasmine and her family, was murdered in what has been described as among “the worst, most brutal, most animal sexually-depraved, most violent and inhuman murder of any woman or man anywhere in the world”… (Quote from Bermuda Online).
Passersby found her as she died, lying almost nude in the middle of a dark, isolated road. Despite autopsy results on the very day of her death showing forcible rape, sodomy, battering, torture, cutting and stabbing, responsible agencies, “police, the attorney general’s department, the courts, and the judiciary– have failed in their responsibilities to this innocent child.
Keith Forbes of Online Bermuda terms the situation a “notoriously botched murder case that has brought huge international discredit to the United Kingdom and its Foreign and Commonwealth Office, its place and reputation in the European, United Nations and world communities, Bermuda, its Governor and Deputy Governor, Cabinet and legislators, Chief Justice, Attorney General, Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Police Service and the island’s judicial system.” … from RebeccaMiddleton.org website
What Was Elliott Mottley’s Role In This Disaster Of Justice?
In the days following her murder, police on the island narrowed their search to two men: Kirk Mundy and Justis Smith.
Before the evidence was analyzed, Mundy cut a deal with the attorney general at the time. In exchange for testifying against Smith, he would serve five years for being an accessory.
Smith was charged with the murder. However, DNA results at the time put only Mundy at the scene and prosecutors were left to try a man with no physical evidence. … from the Toronto Star Newspaper (link here)
Former Bermuda Attorney General Elliott Mottley denies having anything to do with the mishandling of the Rebecca Jane Middleton case – but many are not convinced.
When reader Reality Check said “A young Canadian schoolgirl was brutally murdered in 1996 and it appears political interference and incompetence by the then AG, Elliot Mottley, (who denied he gave immunity) led to the accused getting off.” it set of a chain of comments that saw almost a hundred readers head over to the RebeccaMiddleton.org website within a matter of minutes.
It is obvious that the horrific murder of Rebecca and the bungling by Bermuda’s police and justice system still reverberates throughout the Caribbean and Canada.
Photo of “Becky” on her way to Bermuda, wearing the dress and hat her mother made for the trip.
Our heart goes out to Rebecca’s family and friends who are still looking for some sort of justice after 12 long years. It is obvious that they seek to encourage public debate and examination of the case, so out of consideration to them, we made this our feature article for today.
Here is what various BFP readers said on another post about the case. Comments are open folks…
Reality Check
Bermuda is even smaller than Barbados and perhaps more susceptible to abuse and corruption by the power elite.
Why is it that the Mottleys seem to be involved with everything nefarious and underhanded and keep coming up with jobs.
http://www.bermudasun.org/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=333Elliot Mottley91&TM=9512.018
http://www.rebeccamiddleton.org/
A young Canadian schoolgirl was brutally murdered in 1996 and it appears political interference and incompetence by the then AG, Elliot Mottley, ( who denied he gave immunity )led to the accused getting off.
Another case of justice denied
Maybe someone from the middleton family can let us know some of the details?
Bermuda is in serious trouble
Jan 23, 8:51 PM
Wishing In Vain
The murder of Miss Middleton was a tragedy, what followed was an amazing fiasco which should leave all reasonable, decent people concerned or stunned. Just how did this comedy of errors lead to such an intolerable ‘result’?
The basis of the miscarriage of justice has always centered on the granting of immunity to a suspect. Now, for the first time we hear the following:
Former AG denies deal in Middleton case
By Karen Smith The Royal Gazette Ltd Bermuda, August 15, 2000
Former Attorney General Elliott Mottley denied there had ever been an immunity deal offered to one of the suspects in the Rebecca Middleton murder. He refuted claims that Kirk Mundy had been offered a lesser charge, that of accessory after the fact, in return for a guilty plea and information. He said: “There never was an immunity deal offered to Mundy. He was charged based on the evidence that the Police provided us with at the time. “They had nothing else but his statement.
“For years people have said there was a deal, but there was no deal. There was no written immunity document because there was no immunity offered.
“I have never spoken out before, but now I think it is time.”
Comment: Stop the press! This is an incredible turn of events but the ‘confession’ appears to have been accepted without so much as a second look. There never was an immunity agreement? This needs to be investigated in depth.
It appears a formal complaint against the officers involved in the enquiry needs to be made at the highest level, investigated by an independent, overseas commission. The former AG’s comments are astounding.
Jan 24, 2:21 AM
Pat
Re the Middleton case, immunity was granted to one one suspect, whose lies were plausible. What transpired was that the DNA in Miss Middleton, matched that of the immune person. They tried to convict the other suspect on the basis of a missing knife from a set found at his house. Apparently there were many of that type sold on the island. The evidence was not enough to convict. So the guilty party or parties walked free.
Lets face it, the Middletons and WE Canadians are not amused.
Jan 24, 3:37 AM
Further Reading…
Bermuda.Org Legal Section (Very Detailed – Scroll down or search for “Rebecca Middleton”)
Bermuda Online – Canada (Scroll down or search for “Rebecca Middleton”)
Cayman Islands Government – Press Release Elliott Deighton Mottley, QC, joins Court of Appeal
Sun Newspaper Canada – Feb 16, 2006 – Joe Warmington
Wikipedia – Link to Cherie Blair Asks Bermudian Court To Reopen Case Of Slain Canadian
Star Newspaper Canada – Canadian’s Slaying Reviewed
18 Comments
January 25, 2008 at 12:33 am
In analysing Elliot Mottley the man, he like Clyde “Mascot” Mascoll is a giant of a failure. In 1976 he betrayed the BLP, when dipper “The Skipper” Barrow used some political leverage over him to force him to betray his allegiance to the BLP. Elliot Mottley and that “Mottley Crew” just last week cursed out Owen Arthur at the recent BLP leadership meeting, and at one point Mia throw two cuffs in Owen. The “Mottley Crew” plan to run Barbados, so wunna better watch out. Elliot Mottley is the man behinds the scenes, controlling the smoke and mirrors for the BLP and his daughter. Elliot’s political failure and betrayal of the BLP now more that ever acts as the motivation for Mia to become Prime Minister at any cost. That Bermuda thing don’t surprise me, that man is a slithery slimey snake.
January 25, 2008 at 12:57 am
They all about uppity living. I knew a ‘domestic’ who worked for the Madame (she quit and just walked off the job) – she was being paid a handful of dollars and was expected to work from early morning until well into the night.
January 25, 2008 at 1:15 am
This murder made major headlines in Canada at the time and I remember there was tremendous pressure on the Bermudan authorities to solve the crime. The Bermudan authorities also wanted to resolve this matter and keep the good name of their tourist paradise. Subsequently there was a rush to bring charges and these were laid before the DNA evidence was received from the lab. After it was discovered that the DNA did not match the accused and that the DNA matched the major Crown witness hopes of a conviction against the defendant were slim to zero at best. Press reports at the time suggested that another complicating factor was that the individual charged was a native Bermudan while Kirk Mundy was a native of Jamaica. Bermudans were upset that a citizen of their country was facing charges while a non native was not charged even though this individual’s DNA was found, thus a conviction by a Bermudan jury was highly unlikely.
I don’t know why the AG subsequently left Bermuda but I remember reading another report which inferred that it was due to the handling of the case.
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BFP Comments
Exactly, Sargeant…
In a small country like Bermuda, the AG was in all likelihood the person who made the decision on how the prosecution should be proceeded with… including when charges were laid against whom.
January 25, 2008 at 2:37 am
[...] with the Middleton family deciding to cease their legal fight, Bda seems to have made the news on BFP again. Anyway, just thought some might find their take on it all of interest. Its always good to [...]
January 25, 2008 at 5:28 am
You know I have always been surprised that the dirty secrets about the mottleys aren’t discussed or known more by the public.
It is public knowledge that both Amor and Elliot Mottley have lifestyles that the average bajan would be turned off by.
You think Mia’s lifestyle turns people off then just look to her mother Amor to get some answers.
I know of countless stories of workmen and others who provided goods and services to the Mottleys who have tremendous difficulty getting paid,yet they are held up as role models or icons in this society.
I guess with a lapdog media like the Nation,VOB,Advocate etc we can’t expect any help from that quarter.
January 25, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Changing the subject – slightly – but still connected to Elliot Mottley. Every cricket team in the world has been linked to the gamling underworld – with the exception of ONE – The West Indies!!!. It was Elliot Mottley who concluded such after being appointed by Teddy Griffith (WICB) to investegate if there was any link between WI Cricket/ Cricketers and gambling. Does anyone have any doubts about such a conclusion? I do.
January 25, 2008 at 12:26 pm
The Mottleys – as a family – has always been more about form than substance and this is how they approached every aspect of their existence. Collectively they beleve that they have the public fooled. Little do they know.
January 25, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Ok…….what Sargeant says makes sense. The authorities seemed to have suspected the wrong man to be the murderer and rushed to get the conviction.
A co-accused can not testify for the prosecution. Therefore, the prosecution could only get Mundy to testify against Justis if he ceased to be an accused. One way for him to cease being an accused is to plead guilty (in this case he pleaded guilty to the lesser offence and the prosecution accepted the plea).
From what sargeant has said They realised their error after they accepted Mundy’s guilty plea and by that time it was too late he was already sentenced to five years.
This incident took place in 1996 when DNA evidence was relatively new….It is possible that what ever DNA test that needed to be done had to be done overseas and therefore results took long to come back.
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BFP Comments
The fact that the AG made an agreement without waiting for all the evidence is a tremendous misjudgment. There are also indications in the evidence that both men were guilty.
Not so quick to exonerate either one of the accused or the incompetent authorities with many agencies.
January 25, 2008 at 10:58 pm
according to what BFP wrote above Elliott Mottley
said:
“For years people have said there was a deal, but there was no deal. There was no written immunity document because there was no immunity offered.”
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I Find it very strange that he is using the term immunity because I don’t beleive the AG technically has the power to grant immunity. Immunity is the exemption from legal liability. In this case Mundy did not get an exepmtion from criminal liability he was convicted of a lesser offence, so immunity technically does not come into play.
In any event it seems that an error was made and a potential murderer only served 5 years when he should have been in jail for the rest of his life.
January 26, 2008 at 11:28 am
Mottley’s handling of the Harvey Juman murder case is particularly instructive. He was there at the scene of the murder before the police: a credible source, the police photographer – a very brave amd decent man it turns out (you can read it in our book The Khaki Boys), describes how the police removed the evidence of the brutal slaying (namely the blood stained walls and floor), and staged the scene to look look an accident – and there was Mottley at the center of it all.
Think – bribery, freemasonry, dope dealing, and i think ultimately accessory to murder
January 26, 2008 at 6:59 pm
They do things in other countries and get away with them. What do you expect them to do at home where they are “in control”?
http://www.ar-africare.com/index.html
January 27, 2008 at 12:19 am
Gary,
I can I get a copy of the book KHAKI BOYS?
Please let me know.
Anxious and cant wait
January 27, 2008 at 12:20 am
Gary,
That shoud be: “How can I get a copy of the book KHAKI BOYS?
Anxious
January 27, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Rebecca Middleton’s father has sought justice in the murder of his daughter for 12 very long years and is now financially ruined as a result. Story as follows : http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080127/middleton_father_080127/20080127?hub=Canada
January 27, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Here you go again B.F.P. Trying to smear people without presenting all the facts on the basis of a report from the Royal Gazette’s Bermuda Online.
There is no doubt that the comedy of errors surrounding the bringing to justice of the murderers of poor Miss Middleton will anger law abiding people everywhere, but equally so is your attempt to lay the blame at the doorstep of Elliot Mottley, then Attorney General of Bermuda. Of course, as an independent thinker I can see through your latest smut campaign for what it is – an attempt to smear our present leader of the Opposition by association. Won’t work B.F.P.
For fair minded people everywhere I include the following timeline for further information.
1996
July 2: Becky and her friend Jasmine Meens spend a night out in St. George’s. When their taxi fails to show the pair accept lifts on bikes from strangers. Jasmine makes it safely home but Becky goes missing after accepting a lift with two men.
July 3: Becky’s body is discovered at 3.30 a.m. at the roadside in Ferry Reach. She has been raped, sodomized and stabbed 16 times.
July 10: Police arrest 17-year-old Bermudian Justis Smith and 21-year-old Jamaican Kirk Mundy in connection with the killing. Two days later, Smith is charged with premeditated murder and Mundy charged with accessory after the fact.
October 16: Mundy is jailed for five years after pleading guilty to being an accessory to the crime. He admits to having sex with Becky but said he found Smith killing her when he returned from washing himself in the sea.
1997
July: Mundy is jailed for 16 years for an armed robbery of a bank vehicle committed in November 1995. He had been on bail for this at the time Rebecca was killed.
1998
Jan: Mundy is charged with murder when new forensic evidence comes in.
March: The Court of Appeal throws out Chief Justice Austin Ward’s decision to allow Mundy to be charged with murder. The Crown contests this and continues to push for Smith and Mundy to be tried together.
July: The Privy Council in London throws out the bid to prosecute Mundy for murder.
November: Mr. Smith’s murder trial begins. The jury hears gruesome testimony. American forensics expert Dr. Michael Baden says many wounds inflicted on Becky were to force her into doing something she didn’t want to do. Judge Vincent Meerabux causes an outcry by ruling Smith has no case to answer.
2000
January: The Privy Council in London rejects a bid by prosecutors to re-try Mr. Smith for murder. It criticises Judge Meerabux for throwing out the case before it was put to the jury but says the acquittal cannot be overturned.
2003
August: Mr. Smith is found guilty of stabbing a woman in Dockyard the year before and sent to jail.
2006
March: Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham-Allen tells the Middleton family fresh charges such as serious sexual assault, torture and kidnap cannot be pressed.
2007
April: Cherie Booth QC asks Chief Justice Richard Ground for this decision to be overturned and Mundy and Mr. Smith re-tried. He says it is not possible for him to do so. Becky’s family vows to fight on in the Court of Appeal.
2008
January 24. The end is declared. Becky’s father Dave abandons the 11 year fight to get justice done in her name, as he cannot foot any more enormous legal bills.
January 28, 2008 at 1:55 am
Ah next question. How come you have made no comment on the BLP’s Manifesto proposal to purchase the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary. I thought I read somewhere that Mr. Allard had put it up for sale.
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BFP replies,
first of all BTDB, we erased your racist comment. If you wish to comment on BFP you can watch your tongue.
We will get around to the Graeme Hall National Park and other issues in good time… but you are correct, it is time to start holding the new government’s feet to the fire so they don’t forget what happened to the BLP when they ignored issues that are important to us all.
January 28, 2008 at 3:18 am
Re the comment by Goodness Gracious: Goodness gracious presents in chronological detail the history of the case the blogger conveniently leaves out the decision making process where the Crown decides to lay murder charges against Smith rather than Mundy. That is the crux of the matter, the crown made a decision which turned out to be incorrect based on the subsequent evidence. The young lady was raped and murdered and two suspects were arrested. The Crown made the decision to charge Smith and use Mundy as a witness against him. I would venture to guess that they arranged to charge Mundy with a lesser offence as part of the deal to get him to testify against Smith but it backfired when the DNA evidence was revealed. Prosecutors make these choices and sometimes they backfire (see Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka in Ontario).
Where should the buck stop for this error? It usually stops at the top.
March 16, 2009 at 7:58 pm
[...] Elliot Mottley is a public figure. Quote from source: The Cayman Islands Judicial Administration & Portfolio of Legal Affairs – Justices of Appeal [...]